Pacers send the Sixers to record 21st straight loss

Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (1) shoots over Philadelphia 76ers centre Henry Sims (35) during the fourth quarter  of their NBA Game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers won 99-90. Picture: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

DPA/Los Angeles The Indiana Pacers hit a milestone Monday night while the sorrowful Philadelphia 76ers continue to drop like a rock. Lance Stephenson scored 25 points, Paul George had 24 and the host Pacers won their 50th game of the season while sending the Sixers to a franchise-record 21st straight loss, 99-90. “It’s a heck of an achievement for our organisation to win 50 games and I’m proud of our guys,” said Pacers coach Frank Vogel after the club’s sixth 50-win season in their 37-year history. “We didn’t play our best game tonight clearly, but we did enough to get a win and hold off a pesky 76ers team desperate to get off a losing streak.” The Sixers’ slide is tied for the sixth-longest in NBA history and is five shy of the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers’ record 26. “We look at it again as just another layer of learning and trying to forge our way through this season,” rookie head coach Brett Brown said. •Denver Nuggets 110, LA Clippers 100: Ty Lawson scored eight of his 19 points in a decisive 14-2 closing run, and the Nuggets snapped the visiting Clippers’ season-high 11-game winning streak. J  J Hickson had 21 points with 11 rebounds, while Kenneth Faried contributed 18 and 16 boards for Denver, which also ended the Clippers’ franchise-record 17 game run last season. Chris Paul led the Clippers with 29 points, while Blake Griffin finished with 26 and 12 boards. •Oklahoma City Thunder 97, Chicago Bulls 85: League top gun Kevin Durant had 35 points with 12 rebounds, Russell Westbrook collected 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, as the visiting Thunder rolled the cold-shooting Bulls.  •Houston Rockets 124, Utah Jazz 86: Terrence Jones scored 30 points and the Rockets minus All-Star centre Dwight Howard (left ankle strain) stopped a three-game skid after crushing the visiting Jazz with their most-lopsided win of the season. •Dallas Mavericks 94, Boston Celtics 89: German star Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points, Monta Ellis had 17, including two key free throws with 19 seconds left, and the Mavericks sent the visiting Celtics to their fifth straight loss. •Atlanta Hawks 97, Charlotte Bobcats 83: Paul Millsap scored 28 points and the Hawks won their fourth in a row while ending the Bobcats’ eight-game home winning streak. •Brooklyn Nets 108, Phoenix Suns 95: Deron Williams scored 28 points, Joe Johnson had 19, and the Nets set the Suns to run their home-winning streak to nine.